PH still a ‘flawed democracy,’ index shows

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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines remained a “flawed democracy” in 2023, dropping one spot to 53rd out of 167 countries in the latest Democracy Index released on Thursday by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The Philippines scored 6.66 out of 10 possible points—compared to 6.73 in 2022, the EIU said in its report. The Philippines received its highest score of 9.17 in the electoral process and pluralism indicator across the five metrics.

This was followed by a 7.78 score for political participation, a 7.35 civil liberties score, a 4.64 score for functioning of government, and finally a 4.38 in the political culture indicator.

Of the 167 countries, 74 are democracies, with 24 full democracies. The number of flawed democracies rose from 48 to 50, while 34 countries are hybrid regimes and 59 are authoritarian.

READ: Democracy slides amid wars, polarization–study

In the Asia and Australasia region, New Zealand ranked first, Taiwan ranked second, Australia ranked third, Japan fourth, South Korea fifth, Malaysia sixth, India seventh, Timor-Leste eighth, Philippines ninth and Indonesia tenth.

—RUSSEL LORETO